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Yes, Doom has been computed through a DNS database, but calling it a playable port would be misleading. Corey Quinn’s 2026 project uses stock BIND as a RISC-V computer: DNS answers provide precomputed arithmetic and logic, while an external client advances the program and updates mutable state. A verified run reproduced the frame buffer and machine state, yet one DNS update takes roughly 54 seconds—far beyond Doom’s 28.6-millisecond game tick.
Paul Vixie, identified by PC Gamer as one of DNS’s pioneers, summed up the stunt: “I can’t decide whether this is deliciously horrible, or else horribly delicious. in either case, it’s the best use of RFC 2136 DNS UPDATE that I’ve ever seen.”
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What the DNS Doom project actually demonstrates
The project, described in its repository as “Doom computed through DNS: stock BIND as a RISC-V computer,” demonstrates that a conventional DNS server can participate in a complete computation. It does not turn DNS into a general-purpose processor, and it does not deliver an interactive game.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsPC Gamer reported the experiment on October 14, 2026. Quinn compiled Doom for a 32-bit machine whose arithmetic and memory are represented in DNS. The implementation uses ordinary BIND, authoritative DNS traffic, TXT records, and RFC 2136 UPDATE messages.
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- PREMIUM EDITION CONTENT — Includes DOOM: The Dark Ages, the Revelations campaign DLC, Digital Artbook and Soundtrack, and the Divinity Skin Pack with matching skins for the DOOM Slayer, dragon, and Atlan.
- BECOME THE SLAYER — Step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer in a cinematic prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal.
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- REIGN IN HELL — Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer fights Hell’s forces and confronts their leader in a medieval war.
How DNS performs the computation
Precomputed operations replace CPU execution
The database contains about 6.4 million truth-table rows. Instead of asking BIND to execute an instruction, the external client forms a lookup key and receives the result that was precomputed for that combination of inputs. Quinn is explicit that “this isn’t DNS pretending to be a CPU.”
A compiler decodes the program’s instructions ahead of time. BIND therefore handles database-style work: a key-value read, a conditional write, and a lookup into millions of precomputed answers. The compiler, not the DNS server, determines what each operation means.
DNS UPDATE supplies mutable memory
Read-only lookups would not be enough for a game. RFC 2136 DNS UPDATE messages let the system change records, so variables, registers and game state can be written back to the authoritative server. The client issues the updates and reads the resulting values; BIND stores and returns them.
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- A Relentless Campaign: There is no taking cover or stopping to regenerate health as you beat back Hell's raging demon hordes
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An external client supplies the clock and wiring
The client coordinates the sequence of lookups and updates, effectively providing the clocking and wiring around BIND. DNS is the state-and-answer mechanism inside that arrangement, not the component that schedules instructions or independently runs the game loop.
Is it actually playable?
No. The browser demonstration is explicitly a computation demonstration rather than interactive play. Doom normally advances at 35 tics per second, meaning one tic every 28.6 milliseconds. PC Gamer reports that a DNS update takes about 54,000 milliseconds. That latency is roughly three orders of magnitude too high for real-time gameplay.
The distinction matters: the project proves that Doom’s calculations and state can be reproduced through DNS, not that a person can control Doom at a useful frame rate. It is closer to running a carefully verified computation than to installing a new game port.
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What the verified checkpoint proves
The repository records one measured checkpoint rather than a conventional performance benchmark. In that run, the system completed 1,389,327 RISC-V instructions and 6,962,678 DNS transactions in 55.63 seconds.
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| Verified item | Project measurement | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| RISC-V instructions | 1,389,327 | The compiled workload completed the recorded instruction sequence. |
| DNS transactions | 6,962,678 | The computation required millions of authoritative lookups and updates. |
| Elapsed time | 55.63 seconds | Time for the repository’s verified checkpoint, not a real-time game rate. |
| Pixels checked | 4,608 | Every reported pixel matched the independent emulator at the checkpoint. |
| Machine state checked | 32 registers, program counter and game state | The DNS-backed result matched the independent emulator’s recorded state. |
These figures are project measurements reported by the quinnypig/dns-doom repository, accessed in 2026. They should not be read as a general benchmark for DNS, BIND or other workloads.
How to reproduce the demonstration
The project documentation provides a live read-only demo, deployment scripts and automated tests. Reproduction is a systems experiment: plan for several gigabytes of free RAM and a machine that can run the required services.
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- Prepare the environment. Install Docker, Bash and Python 3. The documented setup also requires BIND and enough free memory for the large truth-table dataset.
- Obtain the quinnypig/dns-doom project. Use its deployment and test scripts rather than attempting to construct millions of records manually.
- Deploy the authoritative BIND service. The project’s configuration provides the DNS zone and the records used for computation.
- Run the prerequisite check. The implementation rejects stale state writes before they can overwrite newer game state, so this check should pass before starting a run.
- Start the web server. The browser-facing component uses Python 3 and exposes the read-only computation demonstration.
- Run the automated checkpoint. The test drives the external client, which performs the clocking, sends gate and fetch queries over UDP, and sends UPDATE traffic over TCP.
- Compare the result. A successful run should report the instruction, transaction and elapsed-time figures documented by the repository and verify the pixels, registers, program counter and game state against its independent emulator.
Direct authoritative queries are useful for inspecting the mechanism, but they do not make the system interactive. UDP is used for gate and fetch queries, while TCP carries DNS UPDATE messages in the documented implementation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why this is more than a novelty, and less than a new computer
The experiment is a sharp demonstration of the difference between storage, lookup and execution. A sufficiently large database can encode the answers to an enormous number of small operations. Conditional updates can preserve state. An external controller can sequence those operations into a larger program. Together, those pieces are enough to reproduce a game computation.
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They are not enough to make BIND execute arbitrary instructions by itself. The compiler has already translated the instruction behavior into lookup patterns, and the client still performs the orchestration. Quinn’s own summary is deliberately modest: “It’s not really a computer; it’s simply a very good database. And that turns out to be enough.”
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- STANDARD EDITION — Includes DOOM: The Dark Ages, a single-player dark fantasy and sci-fi shooter.
- BECOME THE SLAYER — Step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer in a cinematic prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal.
- STAND AND FIGHT — Take on demon hordes with the Super Shotgun, the versatile Shield Saw, and other devastating weapons in grounded combat.
- TOOLS OF WAR — Take flight atop a Mecha Dragon, climb into an Atlan mech, and use the enhanced glory kill system against demons.
- REIGN IN HELL — Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer fights Hell’s forces and confronts their leader in a medieval war.
Compared with an ordinary Doom port, the three decisive differences are where computation occurs, how mutable state is persisted, and how long a game tick takes. The DNS version moves state into authoritative records and pays for each step with network transactions; ordinary ports keep those operations in a local process and can meet the game’s tick budget.
What to call it
The most accurate description is: Doom computation through DNS is demonstrated and reproducible, but real-time gameplay is not. “Runs on a DNS database” is fair when “run” means that a verified workload executes through DNS-backed lookups and updates. It is not fair if readers infer a responsive, playable replacement for a normal Doom build.
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